When there are verifiable claims documented like this miracle at Fatima as predicted by the 3 children do you want to believe? There are many miracles, signs and wonders that God shares with us every day... those who believe rejoice and those who choose not to just miss out on God's embrace.

Part Eight: Hebrews 3:16“For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?”(Another translation: “Who were those who rebelled against God when they heard? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt under Moses?”)

Who provokes God when they hear Him? Consider those in Communion with the Lord at His Table. Encounters with the Lord are visual and audible. Keep in mind that visuals like beaches, mountains, objects, thunder, lightning and other visuals that the Holy Spirit may project, have “a voice”. What we see says something to us. We see the Lord and his smile speaks to us. There may or may not be vocabulary, but He speaks by impression. Then audible sounds, like the crash of an ocean wave, the sound of wind or the gurgle of a brook all have sound but beyond vocabulary indicates an impression that is being projected by the Spirit. The mature who have their senses exercised to determine between good and evil indicate those who understand this way of ‘seeing and hearing’ God’s voice other than through, but including ‘vocabulary’.

It is how we respond when we see and hear the Lord that this verse is illustrating.

This whole chapter, (Hebrews 3) is about God’s New House: You! The house of God in Moses' Day and David’s Day were tents made of animal skins and then came to rest in a temple of brick and mortar. After Jesus ascended to become our baptizer in the Holy Spirit and fire, he takes up residence within our bodies as his New House. His Spirit, Flesh and Blood reside in us by the baptism of Jesus and by Communion.

“We are his house, if we hold fast to our confidence and pride in our hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Oh, that today you would hear his voice, ‘Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert.” Hebrews 2 Verses 6b-8

These were a rebellious and unthankful people. They couldn’t help it. They belonged to Adam’s fall. Their interior life was a shambles and judged by the law constantly revealing their sin. Who wouldn’t be and this we are as well if Jesus does not take up His abode within us. When we are won to the Lord by His eternal goodness and mercy and are baptized by water into His Kingdom and then baptized by Him in our outpouring, mighty rushing wind of heaven's fire of the Holy Spirit, we are ready to communicate or have Communion with Him. Then it is His nature that resides within us revealing the New Adam, Jesus Christ transforming us to become the person He always intended.

Rather than being hard hearted, we need the grace and truth given by our “daily bread” to daily restore and revive our spiritual eyesight to see with vision to recognize the Lord and the sound of His voice. “Christ in you the eternal hope of glory!" ( that by Communion with Him, He revives the clarity of His presence in our life at His Table). Through Communion we are revived in His presence and by His presence each time we take a moment to dine with Him.

This is why Jesus said He had to go away – to send another to become our personal helper.

The Holy Spirit is sent to reveal the reality of His holy presence "Jesus = Truth" in Communion.

He is sent to ‘bring all things of the King and His Kingdom to our remembrance’! (Remember Jesus said to “Do this in remembrance of Me”?) Do we have the power of eternal remembrances? Only the Holy Spirit can do that for us.

The Holy Spirit is sent to reveal things to come. The future is within range of heaven. They are not bound by time and space and the Holy Spirit, when necessary can give of glimpses of future events, situations and circumstances as we yield to His leadership in our life, heart and thinking.

Who are those who hear and are led by the new Moses into His eternal Kingdom?

First is God’s language. How do we hear Him? How does He communicate with us and how do we understand and respond to Him? If we hunger and thirst for Communion, He will produce visions of glory (clear vision that speaks to us) and it will be music to our ears (the clear sounds that have His voice). If we harden our hearts, question, doubt and are cynical, then what He tries to share with us will be challenged by our arrogance and compete with our own self-centered view and voice. When this happens His voice will set our teeth on edge. Those who refuse God’s grace, goodness and mercy will create for themselves a provocative mindset and be ruled by it. We will be resisting what the Lord wants to share with us. God’s grace will look and sound like law, His goodness will feel like a task (because it competes against our will to keep alive a self-centered life). His mercy will come across as frail and weak (because of our self-willed arrogance and false sense of strength). We don’t provoke God. We provoke ourselves while the Lord is stretching His loving arms from the Cross to all who are broken of their self-determination.

Second is how God leads us by His Holy Spirit. Not all who come out from Egypt come out by the leadership of Moses! The Holy Spirit is sent to lead us in the way of Jesus; the Way of Eternal Life. Not only does the Holy Spirit lead us out of Egypt (or the control of this world) but the Lord wants to release us from every remnant of Egypt that tries to control us. How? Jesus provides for this miracle to occur by meeting with Him at His Table. There the Lord sets us free from the grip of sin, entanglements from the world and any clutch of evil in our life. When we encounter the Flesh and Blood of Jesus, He releases us from any other form of enslavement that opposes His love, life, mercy and grace. In Communion, “He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

In Communion the entrance of His Word, His Holy Flesh and Blood, brings clarity by the light of His presence (His glory) so that we might see him and hear Him. “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalms 16:11

The Word (Logos) made to become His flesh is the bread we offer Him, that He has blessed, becoming for us His eternal light, dispelling any shadow of darkness in our heart or mind. The entrance of His light does not cast shadows of any kind. Rather it has the power to break the chains of any bondages and to purges any shadows or shadowy thinking out from us. Then that small morsel replaces even years of bondage and corrupt thinking with His life and mind. The grip of any demon in our life has no choice but to leave in the process. These things cannot abide in the presence of the Lord. Communion, our daily bread, has within it all the power each morsel is designed to accomplish. He “anoints our head with the oil or anointing of revelation” when we feed on His presence. What Jesus reveals and shares with us has within it the ability to graft His Body into ours complete with the essence of all His blessings and promise. We become partakers of his divine nature.

Then The Word (Rhema) of the Holy Spirit flows into us by the drink of His Covenant Blood. The wine we offer He has blessed, “speaks” (RHEMA means the God-breathed voice of the Living Word/LOGOS by the Holy Spirit, Hebrews 12:24), as we drink. He washes away the debris of the world, bruises of Satan and illness caused by our wounds of selfishness or onslaught of our fallen nature while flooding us with His love and life! Whatever chards of brokenness we have, Jesus replaces each one with the morsel and sip of each Communion meal. Something happens if you believe and receive all that He wants to “communicate with you” in Communion.

Outwardly He covers us and we are hidden inside His glory as well. At His Table we are seated within His glory (heavenly places) and we are simultaneously infused with His glory by virtue of whatever blessing He places within the bread and wine we offer to Him. It is His blessing that changes the essence of what the bread and wine are designed to do every time we have Communion. Our life is hidden in Him and His light fills and shines bright within us. We are a walking lighthouse providing His light to those who wander in darkness, warning those tossed about in the raging seas of anguish and torment and revealing the light of solid ground by His presence in our life.

In CommunionFire, as constant as it might be (as Wesley said, ‘at least 4 times per week but if possible every day’) then to that degree will we become more and more aware of His constancy throughout the day. “I will never leave you or forsake you” is Jesus’ promise to all who are in Communion with Him. But our being aware of His constancy is something that requires the eyes and ears of our spirit being open often enough that in the overflow we begin to recognize Him, throughout the day and even while sleeping. Constant Communion increases the level of our awareness. In His glory we are transformed from glory to glory. Insert the word “clarity” for glory as in the fire of a diamond “In the clarity of His presence we are transformed from one degree of clarity to another. Our experience is that clarity also relates to a growing sense of the reality of Jesus and His Kingdom. Communion replaces our years of being embraced by a temporal reality with an eternal one.

The Word made Flesh and Blood is the term LOGOS become JESUS. When we better understand the facets of the LOGOS we begin to get a glimpse into how the presence of Jesus brings transformation into our life.

The word Laleo is one of the four root words to LOGOS: “the Living Word taking human form” in Jesus earthly ministry and then in the visible bread of His Flesh and wine of His Blood in Communion. Laleo literally means a constant chatter, being talkative, a conversational flow, like a river, of communication pouring from heaven into your heart. Jesus is our language in the Spirit. Communion and CommunionFire is the way He has provided for us to be aware of His “Laleo”. The more acute our awareness becomes, the more aware we will become of His leadership in our life, conversation and influence on others. The ‘chatter’ of the Spirit is not white noise in our background, it is a constant sound His life within our body and mind.

John the Baptist said, “I must decrease, He must increase” and this is the condition that Communion addresses. The more consistently our life is Communion-Centric, the more each morsel and each sip is to replace our life with His. The more Jesus is our life and becomes a part of our flesh and bloodstream, the more we will see the evidence of His Kingdom and His leadership as our King in our daily life and activities.

LOGOS: The Word made Flesh (The name of the 2nd person in the Godhead before He had the name of Jesus given by the Angel to Mary) means divine utterance, analogy, appearance, story, answer, news, preaching, teaching; a word, being the expression of a thought; a saying. Lógos ("word") is preeminently used of Christ expressing the thoughts of the Father through the Spirit (John 1:1). Is also common term (used 330 times in the NT) with regards to a person sharing a message (discourse, "communication-speech"). Lógos is a broad term meaning "reasoning expressed by words."

Since Jesus is The LOGOS it seems to me it would be pretty important to get as full an understanding as we can about what this word means. LOGOS Comes from LEGO and LEGO from 4 other root words in the Greek:

LEGO: “Speaking to a conclusion” to say, speak (originally, "lay down to sleep," used later of "laying an argument to rest," i.e. bringing a message to closure ;) – properly, to say (speak), moving to a conclusion (bringing it to closure, "laying it to rest").

LEGO is the intention of the LOGOS. The LOGOS is constantly speaking to us visually, verbally and in every possible way to manifest the love that god has for us and his desire to share that love and life with us.

LOGOS àLEGO comes from 4 words: EPO, PHEMI, REO and LALEO

EPOanswer, bid, bring word, command

EPO is the overall activity of communication in Communion coming into us from the elements of the Bread of Jesus’ Flesh broken for us and the Wine of Jesus’ Blood poured out for us. This happens every time we come and sit down with the Lord at His Table. We come empty handed. We come as those who are dead and need to be resurrected that we might live by the power of Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Communion is communication. Each morsel of bread and each sip of wine – blessed by the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving has within it what the Lord wants to share with us visually and vocally.

PHEMI to declare, say: (from phaō, "shine") – properly, bring to light by asserting one statement (point of view) over another; to speak comparatively, i.e. making effective contrasts which illuminate(literally, "produce an epiphany") to show or make known one's thoughts, i.e. Speak or say -- affirm, say. Properly, the same as the base of phos (fire, light; light (especially in terms of its results, what it manifests); in the NT, the manifestation of God's self-existent life; divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.) and phaino (to bring to light, to cause to appear; to meet the eyes, strike the sight, become clear or manifest; to shine, be bright or resplendent)

In CommunionFire the PHEMI=PHOS & PHAINO – (Inner Vision) God speaks by visual revelation, we ‘hear Him’ in what he shows us in the light of Jesus. It’s not just what but more in fact “who” we see. When we take the blessed bread (We offer it to Jesus. He takes it, blesses it, breaks it and gives it back to us as “bread transformed” by His blessing. The same with the wine. Once blessed it contains something He wants to share with us. In the bread of His flesh for example, we see Jesus. We find Him waiting for us at whatever location accompanied by whatever He has prepared to reveal or show us. Seeing Him we see His attitude, His glory, His stature, what He wears and it all figures into what we are encountering. Jesus prepares the Table. That is, He prepares the meal He wants us to feast on. It is hidden inside the morsel of bread that we consume and then it consumes our heat and mind and fills us with His life. As much can be realized by what we see as by what we hear.

RHEO make, say, speak of; pouring forth (The LOGOS is a River of Life)

(Inner Locution)Like the living water that flows from beneath the throne of God, the Holy Spirit is like a river within us constantly pouring out messages speaking of the Lord. He was sent not to speak of Himself but to bring all of our attention to Jesus and what Jesus is saying. When we read about the blood of Jesus speaking and the water being turned into wine we begin to get the sense of what Jesus told the woman at the well. If you ask me for drink I will cause, from your belly (literally womb) the flow of rivers of living water. As the bread of His flesh speaks to us visually, the wine of His Blood speaks to us verbally. This is where the Spirit opens our ears to hear the voice of the Lord. Sometimes it is a whisper, sometimes dialog and sometimes just a scripture reference to look up! When we drink from the cup of the New Covenant and the wine of his blood pours into our body, it breathes and speaks and like the bread each sip has a message the Lord has prepared for us within it.

LALEO to talk from lalos (talkative), properly, to utter a sound (cf. (onomatopoeia la-la, etc.) to emit a voice make oneself heard; hence to utter or form words with the mouth, to speak; (is employed not only of men, especially when chatting and prattling, but also of animals, birds, thunder, each thunder uttered its particular voice (the force and meaning of which the prophet understood, cf. John 12:28; John 12:3, Revelation 4:1; the blood of Christ - of the expiatory blood of Christ, metaphorically, to crave the pardon of sins,Hebrews 12:24; to speak, i.e. to use the tongue or the faculty of speech; to utter articulate sounds: absolutely 1 Corinthians 14:11; of the dumb, receiving the power of speech, Matthew 9:33; Matthew 12:22; Matthew 15:31; Luke 11:14; Revelation 13:15; of the sound and outward form of speech, Acts 2:6, Acts 2:4; Mark 16:17).

The manifestation of LALEO is GLOSSA. This is relevant to the manifestation of what Jesus gave to the church when He sent the Holy Spirit and baptizes new believers with the Holy Spirit and fire. When Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit and we drink Him in through the faculty of breathing He fills us with His fire, His life and that includes ‘cloven tongues’ ‘kosher prying’ ‘praying in an eternal language, the language of the Holy Spirit that causes our hearts to burn within us. What overflows is a new heavenly language. This not only confirms to us the receiving of Jesus’ gift as our baptizer but also ennobles us to speak with the language of all other citizens in the Kingdom of God.

Laleo/Glossa becomes:a) our personal prayer language,b) the way we personally and corporately praise, sing and worship Jesus without the restrictions of earthly languages, andc) the means of using the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God as an instrument of Spiritual Warfare (or “Rhema of God” which means God breathing His Word into us and through us (my cup runs over) as a manifestation of His presence and power through “prayer in the Spirit”.

There are 3 ways the word ‘Word’ is translated in scriptures:1) Graphe = Bible (paper and ink);2) Logos = Jesus (The Word made flesh born of Mary);3) Rhema = Holy Spirit (Every Word/rhema that proceeds from the mouth of God).

Ephesians 6:17-18 “Taking the sword (short sword or dagger – like the tongue) of the Spirit (pneuma-breathed of God, wind of heaven) which is the Word (rhema) of God. The 7th piece of our Spiritual Armor is “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (pneuma prayer = tongues of angels).” We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness, spirits of darkness in heavenly places. “Praying in the Spirit” is what is required and it is how we take the Sword of the Spirit and wield it in prayer. Praying in tongues, the heavenly super natural language is where the rhema happens. It is a different action form of the Logos: Jesus as The Word made Flesh and His name prior to being called Jesus. It is the action form of the static Graphe which is the paper and ink; we call the Holy Bible.

Paul encourages us to pray in the Spirit, pray always, constantly, pray with the Spirit and to sing in and with the Spirit. It is super natural prayer and requires no thinking on your part. Here is no intellectual ascent in the Spirit. We may pray with our understanding also but praying constantly is not founded upon any other language than the language of the Holy Spirit.

GLOSSA the tongue, a language, a nation (usually distinguished by their speech) Tongue, used of flowing speech; (figuratively) speaking, inspired by God, like the evidence of tongues-speaking supplied by the Lord in the book of Acts (Acts 2:4), to demonstrate the arrival of the new age of the new covenant, the new humanity, the kingdom of God – precursor of the Kingdom of Heaven.

CommunionFire: The tongue or language of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Nation of God’s people redeemed by Jesus Christ and the tongues of heaven, prayer-tongues, tongues of thanksgiving, praise and worship; the gift accompanying the Holy Spirit ‘the Fire’. It is the language of God, the Holy Spirit and of angels as our languages are all languages of judgment from the tower of Babel. All who are Baptized by Jesus in the Holy Spirit are immediately given the language of the Kingdom of Heaven and have the ability to speak, pray and worship with the angels, the Holy Spirit, the saints and the Church on the earth. It is a gift we enjoy now and is the language we will speak for eternity.

In addition there are gifts (charisms) of the Holy Spirit to benefit the life and witness of the Church. There are Spiritual gifts, imparted by the Holy Spirit in 3 categories: Nine Spiritual Gifts 1 Corinthians 12, Seven Service gifts in Romans 12 and 5 Servant Leadership Gifts in Ephesians 4.

There are 9 Charismatic “Ministry of the Spirit Gifts” given by the Holy Spirit we see in 1 Corinthians 12: "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. For to one is given:

the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another

the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another

faith by the same Spirit, and to another

gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another

the effecting of miracles, and to another

prophecy, and to another

the discerning of spirits, to another

various kinds of tongues, and to another

the interpretation of tongues.

These are in three categories:

Insight Prophetic Power Word of Wisdom Tongues Gifts of HealingsWord of Knowledge Interpretation of Tongues Working of MiracleDiscerning of Spirits Prophecy Extraordinary Faith

These 9 Gifts are super natural and have special empowerment given for special situations usually in the context of worship, evangelism and in missions. 3 are prophetic gifts given to edify and strengthen the faith of believers and to confound unbelievers as to the reality of the Kingdom of heaven. 3 are special gifts of spiritual insight: the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom and discerning of spirits; 3 are special gifts of power for performing miracles, gifts of healings and the gift of faith (beyond day-to-day faith).

There are 7 “Service/Ministry Gifts” given by the Holy Spirit listed in Romans 12 (We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is

prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is

serving, then serve; if it is

teaching, then teach; if it is to

encourage, then give encouragement; if it is

giving, then give generously; if it is to

administrate, do it diligently; if it is to

show mercy, do it cheerfully

There are 5 Gifts & Callings of leadership in Ephesians 4: He gave some as

apostles, and some as

prophets, and some as

evangelists, and some as

pastors and

teachers,

“For the equippingof the saints For the work of service, To the building up of the body of Christ; Until… We all attain to the unity of the faith, And of the knowledge of the Son of God, To a mature man, To the measure of the stature Which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

Paul gives some prioritization of the combination of all three categories in 1 Corinthians 12: Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church,

first apostles,

second prophets,

third teachers,

then miracles,

then gifts of healings,

helps,

administrations,

various kinds of tongues.

All are not called to the ministry of apostles, are they?All are not called to the ministry of prophets, are they?All are not called to the ministry of teachers, are they?All are not called to the ministry of being workers of miracles, are they? All do not minister with gifts of healings, do they?All do not minister prophetically declaring messages in tongues, do they?All do not minister prophetically interpreting messages in tongues, do they?

But earnestly desire the greater gifts. All are important. All are super naturally given, blessed and anointed and because tongues appears last don’t think it is unimportant. Consider this: In chapter 13, charitable love is listed last and Paul says it is the greatest!

What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret 1 Corinthians 14:26-27

Be filled with the Spirit,speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; Ephesians 5:18-20

So then. Do not harden your hearts to the ways the Lord speaks with us. If you come to His Table He will open your eyes to speak to you visually and open your ears to hear Him speak with you audibly. If you hear Him you will be walking in the Way of Life. If you do not then He will not be leading you and you will be left to trying to figure things out on your own, walking in the Way of Death.

"For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, (as in the provocation) at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work." Psalm 95:7-9

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the testand saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”Hebrews 3:7-15

"He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness." Acts 7:36

"God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will." Hebrews 2:4

"Yeshua said to him, “If you will not see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” John 4:48 Aramaic

One Miracle is worth a Thousand Sermons: Only Believe and All Things are Possible

The Crossroads Initiative is one of the great resources of christian Faith to evolve on the 21st Century Landscape of Today's Church. Dr. Italy, N.Y.Times Best Selling Author, and the D'Ambrosio Family have been a valuable resource in my life and I hope you will visit often.

http://www.BobBeBold,com

This was a Campus Crusader who wanted Early Church authenticity - I was called into the ministry under the street preaching of this wonderful Man of God in Berkeley, CA in 1971. He was a founder of God's Love household for Street Christians, the publisher of the Jesus People's Movement called "Right On" and through an amazing series of transformations throughout his ministry He was a founder of The University of Orthodox Theology (now called St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology) and oversaw the creation of The Orthodox Study Bible before the Lord moved him to his new address in heaven. Thanks Fr. Jack N. Sparks, Ph.D The Witness of Jack and his estimed Associates from Grace Haven Farms, New Covenant Apostolic Order, The Evangelical Orthodox Churches and theis eventual assimilation into the Antiochian Orthodox Church of America is truely one of the Great Church Histories of the 20th and 21st Century.

CONCILIAR POST InterChristian Dialog

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio One of the Best on The Subject Recomended for all generations and all denominations

Jess is a Wonderful Worship Leader. Here she shares how the Good Shepherd gave her direction and how her encounter with Jesus in CommunionFire impacted her life. (Note: Her CommunionFire story is told at minute 25 )

Luke 3:16 "He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire." Ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire today.

Another significant influence in my life is the life and ministry of Winkey Pratney. His lifelong commitment to the study and application of Revival as both an apologist and polemicist raised the bar for me and he accomplished what I only dreamed - to Produce the Revival Study Bible. He has also been an intrinsic Man of God from the days of the Jesus People Movement and a part of my experience as a visiting teacher at Christ for the Nations in Dallas in 1975 and one of the principles in Y.W.A.M. Youth With A Mission that has had a direct impact on my sister, daughters, nephews and grandchildren. Thanks Brother Winkey for the legacy you have deposited into my life and the life of so many others.

"JOIN ME FOR A PILGRIMAGE of a LIFETIME" Our primary guide will be Dr. Italy., a widely respected professor of biblical interpretation and church history and a New York Times best-selling author.